2016-17
HOT Season for Young People
Teacher Guidebook
American Shakespeare Center
Romeo and Juliet
Sponsored by
and
Our Town
From our Season Sponsor
For over 130 years Regions has been proud to be a part of the Middle Tennessee
community, growing and thriving as our area has. From the opening of our doors
on September 1, 1883, we have committed to this community and our customers.
One area that we are strongly committed to is the education of our students.
We are proud to support TPAC’s Humanities Outreach in Tennessee Program.
What an important sponsorship this is – reaching over 25,000 students
and teachers – some students would never see a performing arts production
without this program. Regions continues to reinforce its commitment to
the communities it serves and in addition to supporting programs such as HOT,
we have close to 200 associates teaching financial literacy in classrooms this year.
Thank you, teachers , for giving your students this wonderful opportunity. They will certainly enjoy
the experience. You are creating memories of a lifetime, and Regions is proud to be able to help make
this opportunity possible.
Jim Schmitz
Executive Vice President, Area Executive
Middle Tennessee Area
WELCOME !N to the Arts
2016-2017
HOT Season
for Young People
Table of Contents
About the Company, American Shakespeare Center – Page 1
Why Romeo and Juliet and Our Town? Notes from the Artistic Director – Page 2
Shakespeare’s Staging Conditions – Page 3
Lesson – Changing the Outcome of Romeo and Juliet – Page 4
Lesson – Two Households: Exploring the Feud in Romeo and Juliet – Page 5
Lesson – Thornton Wilder’s World Without – Page 7
Lesson – Every Moment Counts – Page 8
Lesson – Love, Death, and Community: Intersections of Romeo & Juliet and Our Town – Page 10
Discussion Questions – Page 14
~0~
About the Company – American Shakespeare Center
The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) is an internationally recognized home for the
study of Shakespeare's works using their original staging conditions -- with a focus on the
language, using a stage unimpeded by sets, and with the audience sharing the same light
as the actors. As an essential part of our mission to be a place to enjoy and to study
Shakespeare in performance, the American Shakespeare Center is pleased to open its
rehearsals to scholars, students, and researchers who wish to deepen their understanding
of the process of staging a play.
www.americanshakespearecenter.com
Notes from the Artistic Director, Jim Warren
Staging Conditions
I started this company to show the world (or anybody we could cajole into seeing/booking us!) that re-creating
Shakespeare’s Staging Conditions allows these plays to come alive in vibrant and exciting ways that sometimes get
lost when you play with all of the cool theatre tricks we’ve invented in four hundred years. “We do it with the lights
on” is one of our company mottos because bathing the audience in the same light as the stage is what I consider
the most important staging conditions for which Shakespeare (whom I often call Genius Boy) wrote. We often call
this staging condition UNIVERSAL LIGHTING. Genius Boy wrote most of his plays to be performed at an outdoor
theatre at 2 o’clock in the afternoon; he couldn’t turn off the sun, so that meant on a good day at the Globe (a threestory donut open to the sky) he had three thousand people sitting and standing around the stage (with no one more
than 54 feet away from that stage). We think Shakespeare wrote that visible audience into every scene of every
play, that Hamlet and Lady Macbeth and Lear and Cleopatra all spoke directly to the lit audience as characters in
the play. And we think including the audience in the world of the play was the norm for all English plays in the early
modern period of the Renaissance. So one of the reasons we use universal lighting is because that’s the theatrical
environment for which Genius Boy wrote (if he had a light board, I believe he would have written his plays much
differently. The other huge reason we use universal lighting is because it’s exciting, engaging, dynamic and a
whole lot of fun for a modern audience to be inside the world of the play, taking the same ride as the characters
rather than sitting in the dark and pretending to watch a movie or tv show.
Show selection
Each year, the ASC always tours with the same cast performing 3 different titles in rotating repertory. We only
have 38 plays that we think Shakespeare wrote or co-wrote. At our home theatre – the Blackfriars Playhouse, the
world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre – we’re open twelve months a year and perform 15-16
different titles. So we have to do plays by folks other than Shakespeare or we’d be recycling the Shakespeare titles
too quickly. So sometimes we tour with 3 Shakespeare titles; sometimes it’s 2 by Shakes and 1 by a contemporary
of Shakes; sometimes it’s 2 by Shakes and one classic like SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, OUR TOWN, THE
IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, CYRANO DE BERGERAC, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, SAINT JOAN,
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, etc.
In looking for modern plays to add to our reps, the most important things I look for are:
 plays that are language-based
 plays that allow us to “do it with the lights on,” use no lighting cues, speak directly to the audience, and
include the lit audience in the world of the play
 plays we can do with 11 actors
 plays we can do completely unplugged with live sound effects and music, nothing piped in over speakers
 plays that we think will delight and surprise our audiences
 plays that will provide something special when added to the other plays in the repertory
~1~
Why Romeo and Juliet and Our Town?
Thoughts from Artistic Director, Jim Warren
Common Themes
As I was putting together the shows for the ASC 2016/17 Artistic Year, it was time for us to consider Romeo and
Juliet again, so I did a lot of thinking about what titles would go well with it. Our Town is a great companion to
Romeo and Juliet because it centers around a couple of teenagers who experience daily life, love and
marriage, death and dying. Both plays deal with parents navigating their way through how to raise their kids.
Both plays deal with the lives of the people around those teenage lovers. Both plays deal with matters of the heart,
the politics of their towns, and the tragedy of those you love dying.
Shakespearean Staging Conditions
Our Town had been on my list for years because it’s a modern play uniquely designed for Shakespeare’s Staging
Conditions. So, while many classical theatre companies all over the world have done Our Town over the decades
since it debuted, it seems even more appropriate for the ASC to do it because Wilder wrote it with Shakespeare’s
Staging Conditions in mind.
Wilder seemed to be disenchanted with the state of modern theatre when he wrote Our Town. Wilder wrote: “I
began writing one-act plays that tried to capture not verisimilitude but reality…Think of the ubiquity that
Shakespeare's stage afforded for the battle scenes at the close of Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. As we
see them today what a cutting and hacking of the text takes place – what condescension, what contempt for his
dramaturgy.” Wilder’s quest for his flavor of reality onstage led him to provide layers of “unreality” requiring the
audience to use their imaginations to create the sets and props. I believe Wilder’s artistic heart connected with
Shakespeare’s Staging Conditions: mostly a bare stage with a few tables and chairs; no elaborate sets; actors
speaking directly to the audience and including them in the world of the play. By freeing himself and his audience
from the trappings of his modern theatre, he was able to craft a story that the audience helped imagine themselves.
And here the method of staging finds its justification – in the first two acts there are at least a few chairs and tables
but when she revisits the earth and the kitchen to which she descended on her twelfth birthday, the very chairs and
table are gone. Our claim, our hope, our despair are in the mind – not in things, not in “scenery.” The climax of
this play needs only five square feet of boarding and the passion to know what life means to us.
Our Town - Why should we care about this play three quarters of a century after it was written?
Some folks are drawn to Our Town because they think it’s a play about small town American life in the early 1900s.
Yes and no. Wilder does paint a picture of simpler times and simpler ways, but I think that’s actually just the
canvas for something even bigger. I don’t think the play is about this specific fictional town or small towns in
general. That’s why he didn’t name the play Grover’s Corners. I think he called it Our Town because, ultimately,
it’s not a play about people in 1901 in a village in Massachusetts. It’s a play about all of us, it’s a play about our all
of towns and our lives, no matter where or when. Just as Romeo and Juliet is about us, our parents, our
friends, our neighbors, so is Our Town. It became an enduring classic because it somehow reaches beyond just
being about a single town; it’s about life. Wilder wrote: “Our Town is not offered as a picture of life in a New
Hampshire village; or as a speculation about the conditions of life after death...It is an attempt to find value above
all price for the smallest events of our daily life.”
I didn’t choose Our Town for this Season because I thought it was a quaint look at a quaint time. I chose it because
I believe this play is about our lives – right here, right now. There’s nothing idealized about Grover’s Corners when
you take a hard look at it. Look for the subtle hypocrisies of the parents, the tragic cries for help from the alcoholic
choirmaster, and the fears of young adults on their wedding day. The play takes us through the whole arc of
existence: Daily Life; Love and Marriage; Death and Dying. We get a look at life that asks us to look at our
own lives, and a plea to remember that each day matters.
Wilder reminds us of our mortality throughout Our Town. The Stage Manager introduces characters and
immediately tells us when they die. In Act III we discover a lot of information about how characters we met and
loved earlier in the play have died. Life, Love, Marriage, Death. The heart of the play is the encouragement to
make our lives count. Don’t wait to tell others what you really think. Don’t wait to live the life you want to live.
And I guess that's why we’ve got to love those people who deserve it like there's no tomorrow; because when you
get right down to it, there isn’t.
~2~
Shakespeare’s Staging Conditions
The American Shakespeare Center performs Shakespeare's works under their original staging conditions -- on a
simple stage, without elaborate sets, and with the audience sharing the same light as the actors. By following the
basic principles of Renaissance theatrical production, the American Shakespeare Center gives its audiences some
of the pleasures that an Elizabethan playgoer would have enjoyed.
UNIVERSAL LIGHTING
Shakespeare’s actors could see their audience; ASC actors can see you. When actors can see an audience, they
can engage with an audience. And audience members can play the roles that Shakespeare wrote for them —
Cleopatra’s court, Henry V’s army, or simply part of innumerable jokes. Leaving an audience in the dark can literally
obscure a vital part of the drama as Shakespeare designed it.
DOUBLING
Shakespeare's Macbeth has more than forty parts; Shakespeare's traveling troupe may have had fewer than fifteen
actors. Like the Renaissance acting companies, the ASC doubles parts, with one actor playing as many as seven
roles in a single show. Watching actors play more than one role, an audience can experience another aspect of
Elizabethan playgoing - the delight of watching a favorite actor assume multiple roles.
GENDER
Women didn't take to the English stage until after the Restoration (1660), so all the women in Shakespeare's plays
were originally played by young boys or men. Shakespeare had a great deal of fun with this convention. In a
production of As You Like It in 1600, a boy would have played Rosalind, who disguises herself as a boy, then
pretends to be a woman. Let's review: that's a boy playing a woman disguised as a boy pretending to be a woman.
Because we are committed to the idea that Shakespeare is about everyone, the ASC is not an all-male company,
but we try to re-create some of the fun of gender confusions by casting women as men and men as women.
LENGTH
We cannot know the precise running time of a Shakespeare play in the Renaissance, but the Chorus in Romeo and
Juliet promises "two hours' traffic of our stage." The ASC tries to fulfill this promise through brisk pacing and a
continuous flow of dramatic action.
SETS
Shakespeare's company performed on a large wooden platform
unadorned by fixed sets or scenery. A few large pieces - thrones,
tombs, tables - were occasionally used to ornament a scene. The ASC
will sometimes use set pieces or boxes to indicate location and, like
Shakespeare's company, we use these items to spark the audience's
imagination to "piece out our imperfections with [their] minds."
Choose a scene from Romeo and
Juliet or Our Town. Using stage
directions and context clues from
the text, create a set that includes
only the items that are NEEDED to
tell the story.
COSTUMING
Costuming was important to the theatre companies of Shakespeare's day for three reasons. First, the frequently
lavish costumes provided fresh color and designs for the theatres, which otherwise did not change from show to
show. Second, costumes made it easy to use one actor in a variety of roles. Third, as they do now, costumes
helped an audience "read" the play quickly by showing them at a glance who was rich or poor, royalty or peasantry,
priest or cobbler, ready for bed or ready to party, "in" or "out." Costumes are important to the ASC in the same way.
But costumes were NOT important to Shakespeare and his fellows as a way of showing what life used to be like in
a particular historical period. They performed Julius Caesar, for example, in primarily Elizabethan garb, not ancient
Roman clothing. For them, as for us, the play always spoke to the present. That's why we use costumes that speak
to our audiences in the most familiar language possible while staying consistent with the words in the play.
MUSIC
Shakespeare had a soundtrack. Above the stage, musicians played an assortment of string, wind, and percussion
instruments before, during, and after the play. The plays are sprinkled with songs for which lyrics, but not much of
the music, survive. The ASC sets many of these songs in contemporary style. The result is emblematic of our
approach-a commitment to Shakespeare's text and to the mission of connecting that text to modern audiences.
~3~
Changing the Outcome of Romeo and Juliet
What is the difference in a tragedy and a comedy? Compare the student responses to the dictionary definition, then
to Shakespeare’s meaning. Is Romeo and Juliet a comedy or tragedy? Would Romeo and Juliet with a happy
ending increase or decrease your enjoyment of the play? Why?
Part One:
Activity: Can one choice change a story and the outcome? What
are some of the most important choices made in Romeo and
Juliet? At what point in the story did things begin to go wrong?
Whose fault was this? Discuss how the choices of the following
characters affected the outcome of the play: Romeo, Juliet, Friar
Lawrence, Mercutio, Lord Capulet, Tybalt.
As a class, create a list of moments from the story when a different
choice would have changed the outcome of the play.
Some examples could be:
- If Romeo heeded Escalus’ warning and declined to duel with
Tybalt, how would the outcome have changed?
- How would the story change if Romeo had received the letter?
- What would have happened if Romeo had stopped to consult
Friar Laurence before he went into Juliet’s tomb?
- What if Friar Laurence had declined to marry Romeo and
Juliet until they had known each other longer?
After creating the list, divide students into groups. Each group will
pick a turning point in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet from the
list, consider how the action of the play would have been altered had a different choice been made, and predict the
characters’ actions throughout the rest of the play. What is the new outcome? Does this change make the play a
comedy?
In their groups, students will create a general plot outline, and fill in a Venn Diagram comparing the plot from the
original story with their new and improved plot, and the places where the two plots intersect. These should be
completed before continuing to Part Two.
Part Two:
Once plot outlines have been created, each group will prepare to present their story to the class. To do this, each
group will choose one option from the list below. Each option has a writing element and a presentation element.

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
Write a “choose your own adventure” version of the story, including several different choices and outcomes;
Read your story to the class, sharing the choices that led you to the plot outline created yesterday.
Rewrite the entire scene as a play script; Perform the scene for the class.
Create a comic strip or storyboard of your scene retelling, including dialogue for the characters; Share your
images and read the text to the class.
Rewrite the story as a screenplay; Present a “table reading” of the scene adding “Director’s Commentary” of the
changes that were made.
Create a news interview, writing questions and answers from key characters in the play, discussing how they
prefer the new ending; Present as a staged interview, with a reporter and characters answering the questions.
Create a script for a talk show panel, staging a reunion of characters that died in the original version of the play
and discuss the changes in your version; Present as a talk show panel, with a TV host and characters.
Closure – Groups present their stories and discuss. Ask students to provide feedback for each other - What were
their favorite elements of each presentation? Why did each group choose the presentation element they used?
~4~
Aleca Piper as Nurse, Zoe Speas as Juliet. Photo by Jay McClure.
Discuss: How many of you generally prefer that a novel, movie, or play have a happy ending? Why?
“Two Households Both Alike in Dignity” :
Exploring the Feud in Romeo & Juliet
By Robyn Berg
PART ONE
Warmup: Split the class in two groups (ideally, they are far enough apart from each other not to see or hear the
other group easily). Give one set of the following instructions to each group (printed or verbally if there is more than
one instructor to side coach two groups at the same time):
Your group is called “the numbers.” See if you can use your bodies as a group to
physically create the number 1. Once you’ve mastered that, try it with the number 2 and
then the number 3. Next, stand in a circle and one by one count aloud. See how many
numbers you can say in one minute’s time. (Maybe try it again in another language if the
group is bilingual). Lastly, brainstorm as a group on how/when/where/why we use
numbers on a daily basis. Why are they important?
Activity: Bring the two groups together briefly and pass out the first four lines of the prologue of Romeo & Juliet.
Have the students notice that the lines are written in iambic pentameter (in short, each line has 10 beats) and that
lines 1 & 3 rhyme, as well as lines 2 & 4.
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
Students return to their groups and create 4 iambic lines with
the same rhyme scheme that glorifies their particular
“numbers” or “letters” group. An example might be:
We are the greatest numbers on the block,
You can count on us forever and a day,
Numbers go on and on and never stop,
We rock! We rule! What do you say!?
After each group has written their lines, ask them to
rehearse their piece as a group. They might decide to
perform it all in unison, split up lines, have certain lines be
said in a solo voice, have certain lines be said by multiple
voices…whatever gets them pumped up to work together
and believe their group is the “superior” group.
After they’ve had time to create and rehearse, have the two
groups return to a “neutral performance space” (aka, just not
the home “turf” they’ve been bonding in, instead the middle
of the room) and perform their pieces for each other. One group should sit and watch while the other stands and
performs. Next, ask them all to stand and face each other and perform the pieces again (one group first, then the
other follows). Encourage lots of boos and hisses and maybe some “talk to the hand” gestures from the “numbers”
group while the “letters” groups performs and vice versa. You have been slowly creating a feud between the two
groups and now is the time they really get to show it.
Wrap-up: Have the two groups reflect on the bonding, creating, rehearsing and performing experience. How did
you do physically creating your numbers/letters? How many did you verbally say in a minute’s time? Share what
you found important about numbers/letters in your discussion. How did you go about putting this into rhyming
~5~
Sara J. Griffin as Lady Capulet, Ross Neal as Tybalt. Photo by Jay McClure.
Your group is called “the letters.” See if you can use your bodies as a group to
physically create the letter A. Once you’ve mastered that, try it with the letter B and then
the letter C. Next, stand in a circle and one by one say the alphabet aloud. See how you
many times you can get through the alphabet in one minute’s time. Lastly, brainstorm as
a group on how/when/where/why we use letters on a daily basis. Why are they important?
lines? How did your two performances of the piece differ—one with an attentive audience and one with an
audience booing and hissing you? How would an outsider really judge who was the superior group? Is there even
such a thing as a superior group? Why or why not?
Hand out the entire prologue now and ask them to read through it before part 2. If time permits, read it out loud and
discuss any unfamiliar words.
PART TWO
Warmup: Have the two groups from lesson one return to the playing space, with a copy of the prologue in their
hands. Have the “numbers” group start reciting the piece with the first line, “Two households, both alike in dignity,”
while the “letters” group responds with the second line “In fair Verona, where we lay our scene” and so on until the
two groups recite the entire prologue. They may already be embodying the feud after the first lesson, but have
them recite the prologue again, encouraging the warring factions even more this time—never getting physical, just
body language etc. Have the players sit down and briefly discuss what we learn about the entire play in this
prologue? Responses might include: “the two houses are equal—one is not better than the other”, “the play takes
place in Verona, Italy”, “this war has been going on a long time”, etc.
Activity: Ask for 6 volunteers (3 from each group) and pass out the following edited version of the first scene from
Romeo & Juliet to them. Cast anyone from the “numbers” group as a Montague (Benvolio, Balthasar, Abraham)
and anyone from the “letters” group as a Capulet (Sampson, Gregory, Tybalt). If you happen to have pool noodles
or some other fun/safe “weapon” for the characters to intimidate with, all the better. Have the volunteers perform
the scene once, followed by a brief discussion on what was happening/clarifying any unfamiliar words, then perform
it again (perhaps with different volunteers if you have a lot of eager participants):
SAMPSON
Let us take the law of our sides; let them begin.
GREGORY
I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as they list.
SAMPSON
Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them; which is
a disgrace to them, if they bear it.
Enter ABRAHAM and BALTHASAR
ABRAHAM
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
SAMPSON
I do bite my thumb, sir.
ABRAHAM
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
SAMPSON
[Aside to GREGORY] Is the law of our side, if I say ay?
GREGORY
No.
SAMPSON
No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my
thumb, sir.
GREGORY
Do you quarrel, sir?
ABRAHAM
Quarrel sir! no, sir.
SAMPSON
If you do, sir, I am for you: I serve as good a man as
you.
ABRAHAM
No better.
SAMPSON
Well, sir.
GREGORY
Say 'better:' here comes one of my master's kinsmen.
SAMPSON
Yes, better, sir.
ABRAHAM
You lie.
SAMPSON
Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing
blow.
Enter BENVOLIO
BENVOLIO
Part, fools!
Put up your swords; you know not what you do.
Enter TYBALT
TYBALT
What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?
Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death.
BENVOLIO
I do but keep the peace: put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me.
TYBALT
What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:
Have at thee, coward!
Wrap-up: Reflect on watching/performing the scene. Did you find yourself rooting for your “side” in the fight? Is
there really a “right” side and a “wrong” side, based on what you’ve learned in the prologue and first scene? The
cause of the “ancient grudge” between the Montagues and the Capulets is never explained. Why do you think
Shakespeare chose not to tell us? What do you think might have been the cause? As you watch the play at TPAC,
see if you can find legitimate reasons these two families are at war…and whether the consequences of this feud
are worth it.
~6~
Thornton Wilder’s World Without
By Robyn Berg
Warmup: Have the students sit in a circle and silently think about their favorite food. Ask them questions like: How
do you eat it? With your hands or utensils? Is it hot or cold? Is it messy? Do you put salt and/or pepper on it?
Ask one student to demonstrate eating the food in a pantomime and see if the others can guess what the food is.
Go around the circle and have each student perform eating their food, while the others guess. Encourage the
performers to be very specific and to take their time to really chew, etc. When the item isn’t actually there the
performer must still act as if it is during the pantomime.
Discussion: What did it feel like to act without props? As an audience member watching others, what are some
things the performers did that led you to easily guess? What are some things that made it difficult to guess?
Next, share the fact that Thornton Wilder’s Our Town uses non-realistic techniques such as a bare stage and actors
who “pull up an imaginary window shade” or “go through the motions of putting wood into a stove” despite there
being no actual shade, wood or stove. This demands that the actors performing in his play become quite skilled at
pantomime. The Thornton Wilder Society says, “the idea was that the play itself was a distillation of life, a
commentary on it’s essential moments.” During the height of theatrical realism, Wilder’s pared down style was a
radical departure from the conventions of the time.
Ask the students: Would that surprise you to see actors pantomiming instead of using items today? How do you
think that will add to or subtract from the play?
Activity: Have students pair up and give them the following text: (For variety’s sake, you might give each
partnership two different colors to say—perhaps Green/Orange and Yellow/Purple etc. What they are saying
doesn’t matter as much as how they are saying it, and furthermore what they are pantomiming while saying it).
A: Red
B: Blue
A: Red
B: Blue
A: Red
B: Blue
A: Red
B: Blue
A: Red
B: Blue
A: Red
B: Blue
Challenge them to decide where their scene will take place (a kitchen, living room or other space that generally has
a lot of items), what the relationship is between them (family or friends, but not strangers) and what kind of activity
they are involved in while they talk (preparing and drinking tea, filling in a crossword puzzle etc.). After they’ve
made decisions, ask them to rehearse their scene without props. They should easily be able to memorize the
scene so they are not even holding the paper. Encourage them to be just as specific as they were in the warm-up.
Lastly, have them perform the scenes for each other, with the audience guessing the location, the relationship and
the activities each was involved with. If the audience is stumped, side coach the actors to make some tweaks
(think about whether these people would touch, what tone of voice they would use with each other, slow down the
pantomiming etc.) and perform the scene again.
Wrap up: Ask the students: What did it feel like to act without props AND have text to say? As an audience
member watching others, what are some things the performers did both physically AND vocally that lead you to
easily guess the location, relationship and activities? What are some things that made it difficult to guess? Why do
think Thornton Wilder would choose to write a whole play with minimal set and props?
~7~
Every Moment Counts:
Creating an Attitude of Gratitude
By Cassie LaFevor
Journaling - Have Emily’s quote (right) posted as students enter
Oh, earth, you are too wonderful for anybody to
the room. Ask students to read the quote, and write a journal entry.
realize you. Do any human beings ever realize
What do they think the meaning is? What do we not realize
life while they live it – every, every minute?
in our lives every minute? What are things that you might
~ Emily in Our Town
take for granted in your own lives? Ask students to take a few
moments to reflect on their own lives - the ups and downs, the good
and the bad, and consider how they’ve become the person they are today.
Discuss: Ask for volunteers to share what they think the meaning is for the quote, and even some of what they
might take for granted.
Our Town is split into 3 acts - Act I – Daily Life, Act II – Love and Marriage, Act III – Death and Dying. This quote is
from the final act – does this change what students think the quote means, or confirm their thoughts?
Read some of the notes on the following page from the Artistic Director of ASC about Our Town. Why should we
make every moment count?
Activity: Read the first few pages of Our Town as a class. What do you think about the beginning of the story?
Why is the story focusing on such simple parts of a day, instead of looking at important moments? Many will find
this beginning to be “boring” or “slow” or “unimportant”. Why? Consider another quote from Our Town “Choose the
least important day in your life. It will be important enough.” What does this mean?
Imagine you are going to write your life story, including some of the regular, every day activities. What would you
want to include? Give students the following questions to answer to help them think through parts of their life story.
Make sure students know this part of the assignment will be shared in small groups, so they should be as personal
as they feel comfortable.
My "Life Story"
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Aleca Piper as Rebecca, J.C. Long as Dr. Gibbs, Sara J.
Griffin as Mrs. Gibbs, Ross Neal as George, Andrew
Goldwasser as the Stage Manager, Cordell Cole as Wally,
Constance Swain as Emily, Kyle Powell as Mr. Webb, Zoe
Speas as Mrs. Webb. Photo by Michael Bailey.
~8~
My earliest memory:
Some of my best life memories and how they
made me feel:
Some of my worst life memories and how they
made me feel:
The greatest challenges or hardships I have
overcome:
Accomplishments / Things I am proud of /
Personal Growth:
The most important personal beliefs/values that
give me strength: (i.e. religious faith, everyone is
created equal, to be kind, honesty, etc...)
Characters in my life story:
What do I want for my future?
3 simple things in my life I am thankful for:
Elements of my daily life that are a part of my
story:
After students have had time to write answers to the
questions about their own life stories, put them into
groups of about 4. In their groups, students will share 3
things about their own stories and while using 3 important
communication skills – Listening, Asking Questions, and
Giving/Receiving compliments. This is how it will work:
Student A will share 3 things about his life story. The rest
of the group only listens. Next, students B, C and D will
each ask a question that A will answer. Finally B, C, and
D will all give a compliment to A (It can be on the
presentation, the way A lives, personality, etc.) Then B
will take their turn, and so on.
Closure/Reflection: When all groups are finished sharing,
return to your seats and discuss. What did you hear from
a classmate that surprised you? What are some of the
simple things you were thankful for? Assuming you are
living in the Act I of your life, what do you hope will
happen in Act II and III?
Constance Swain as Emily, Zoe Speas as Mrs. Webb.
Photo by Jay McClure.
From Artistic Director, Jim Warren, about Our Town
It’s a play about all of us, it’s a play about our all of towns and our lives, no matter
where or when. It became an enduring classic because it somehow reaches beyond
just being about a single town; it’s about life.
Wilder wrote: “Our Town is not offered as a picture of life in a New Hampshire village;
or as a speculation about the conditions of life after death...It is an attempt to find
value above all price for the smallest events of our daily life.”
The play takes us through the whole arc of existence: Daily Life; Love and Marriage;
Death and Dying. We get a look at life that asks us to look at our own lives, and a plea
to remember that each day matters.
Wilder reminds us of our mortality throughout Our Town. The Stage Manager
introduces characters and immediately tells us when they die.
Life, Love, Marriage, Death. The heart of the play is the encouragement to make our
lives count.
Don’t wait to tell others what you really think. Don’t wait to live the life you want to live.
And I guess that's why we’ve got to love those people who deserve it like there's no
tomorrow; because when you get right down to it, there isn’t.
~9~
Love, Death & Community: Intersections of
Romeo & Juliet and Our Town
By Robyn Berg
Warmup: Bring students to a standing circle and have a volunteer pick a quote out of a hat (famous quotes from
plays listed below for your use) and read it aloud, with the other students repeating the words. If the quote is rather
long, they can break their reading down into 2 or 3 lines so the repetition is easier.
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
Only it seems to me that once in your life before you die you ought to see a country where they
don't talk in English and don't even want to.
Look at that moon. Potato weather for sure.
Wherever you come near the human race there’s layers and layers of nonsense.
Brainstorm: It is suggested that students be somewhat familiar with both stories before continuing this lesson. Start
by brainstorming about Romeo & Juliet. Ask what words, images, famous lines or themes come to mind when they
hear the title and fill half the board with their ideas. Repeat the process on the other half of the board for Our Town.
Constance Swain as Emily, Ross Neal as George.
Photo by Michael Bailey.
~ 10 ~
Josh Clark as Romeo, Zoe Speas as Juliet.
Photo by Michael Bailey.
Next, have the students note overlapping ideas between the two as you draw literal lines of connection. Some
specific commonalities might include: “both have a prologue” or “both involve lovers courting from heights,” while
broader overlap observations will likely illicit “both have young people falling in love,” or “people die in both plays” or
“family seems important in both plays.”
Activity: Break the students into 4 groups and assign each group a different scene - Romeo & Juliet prologue, Our
Town prologue, Romeo & Juliet balcony scene, Our Town ladder scene. Notice those specific commonalities of
prologues and “courting” from heights in the chosen scenes (edited version of each can be found on the following
pages). The groups should then read the scenes round-robin style with the first student saying one line, the next
student saying the next line etc. After the reading, the groups should discuss and note any references to love,
death and community.
Next, combine the two “prologue” groups and combine the two “heights” groups. As two larger groups, have the
students share their observations on love, death and community found within their particular scenes.
These new, larger groups will now create a performance piece using the 2 texts and their discussion thoughts as
inspiration. The piece can have direct text from both plays, tableaus, sound effects, props, costumes, whatever!
There is no “right way” to create this performance—as long as everyone in the group is involved and as long as the
two texts and the larger group discussion on overlapping themes drive the creation process. After some time to
create, the two groups perform for each other.
Josh Clark as Romeo, Zoe Speas as Juliet. Photo by Michael Bailey.
Reflection: After the performances, bring the group together for reflection. What struck you in watching the other
performance? What did you struggle with in your process? What were you most proud of in your process? How
well/not well did the two texts mingle? What do you learn about the broader themes of love, death and community
by creating, performing or watching?
~ 11 ~
ROMEO & JULIET PROLOGUE:
CHORUS:
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star–crossed lovers take their life,
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death–marked love
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which, if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
OUR TOWN PROLOGUE:
STAGE MANAGER:
This play is called “Our Town.” The name of the town is Grover's Corners, New Hampshire –just across the
Massachusetts line: latitude 42 degrees 40 minutes; longitude 70 degrees 37 minutes.
The First Act shows a day in our town. The day is May 7, 1901. The time is just before dawn.
The sky is beginning to show some streaks of light over in the East there, behind our mount'in.
The morning star always gets wonderful bright the minute before it has to go – doesn't it?
Well, I'd better show you how our town lies. Up here is Main Street. Way back there is the railway station; tracks go
that way. Polish Town's across the tracks, and some Canuck families. Over there is the Congregational Church;
across the street's the Presbyterian. Methodist and Unitarian are over there. Baptist is down in the holla' by the
river. Catholic Church is over beyond the tracks. Here's the Town Hall and Post Office combined; jail's in the
basement. William Jennings Bryan once made a speech from these very steps here. Along here's a row of stores.
Hitching posts and horse blocks in front of them. First automobile's going to come along in about five yearsbelonged to Banker Cartwright, our richest citizen…lives in the big white house up on the hill. Here's the grocery
store and here's Mr. Morgan's drugstore. Most everybody in town manages to look into those two stores once a
day. Public School's over yonder. High School's still farther over. Quarter of nine mornings, noontimes, and three
o'clock afternoons, the hull town can hear the yelling and screaming from those schoolyards.
This is our doctor's house, – Doc Gibbs'. This is the back door.
There's some scenery for those who think they have to have scenery. This is Mrs. Gibbs' garden.
Corn…peas…beans…hollyhocks…heliotrope…and a lot of burdock. In those days our newspaper come out twice
a week – the Grover's Corners Sentinel – and this is Editor Webb's house. And this is Mrs. Webb's garden. Just like
Mrs. Gibbs', only it's got a lot of sunflowers, too. Right here's…a big butternut tree.
Nice town, y'know what I mean? Nobody very remarkable ever come out of it, s'far as we know. The earliest
tombstones in the cemetery up there on the mountain say 1670-1680 – they're Grovers and Cartwrights and
Gibbses and Herseys– same names as are around here now. Well, as I said: it's about dawn. The only lights on in
town are in a cottage over by the tracks where a Polish mother's just had twins. And in the Joe Crowell house,
where Joe Junior's getting up so as to deliver the paper. And in the depot, where Shorty Hawkins is gettin' ready to
flag the 5:45 for Boston.
(A train whistle is heard…The STAGE MANAGER takes out his watch and nods.)
~ 12 ~
ROMEO & JULIET BALCONY SCENE:
JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
JULIET
My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words
Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound:
Art thou not Romeo and a Montague?
ROMEO
Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.
ROMEO
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET
How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here.
JULIET
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
ROMEO
With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do that dares love attempt;
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.
JULIET
If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
ROMEO
Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity.
ROMEO
I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
JULIET
I would not for the world they saw thee here.
JULIET
What man art thou that thus bescreen'd in night
So stumblest on my counsel?
ROMEO
I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight;
And but thou love me, let them find me here:
My life were better ended by their hate,
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.
ROMEO
By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee;
Had I it written, I would tear the word.
OUR TOWN LADDER SCENE:
(EMILY leans out the window and peers at GEORGE a moment, then works again.)
GEORGE. Hssst! Emily!
EMILY. Hello.
GEORGE. Hello!
EMILY. I can't work at all. The moonlight's so terrible.
GEORGE. Emily, did you get the third problem?
EMILY. Which?
GEORGE. The third?
EMILY. Why, yes, George – that's the easiest of them all.
GEORGE. I don't see it. Emily, can you give me a hint?
EMILY. I'll tell you one thing: the answer's in yards.
GEORGE. In yards? How do you mean?
EMILY. In square yards.
GEORGE. Oh…in square yards.
EMILY. Yes, George, don't you see?
GEORGE. Yeah. (He does not see.)
EMILY. In square yards of wallpaper. (giving him more
than a hint.)
GEORGE. Wallpaper, (a great light breaking) – oh, I see.
Thanks a lot, Emily.
EMILY. You're welcome. My, isn't the moonlight terrible?
And choir practice going on. (listens hard a moment) – I
think if you hold your breath you can hear the train all the
way to Contoocook. Hear it?
GEORGE. M-m-m – What do you know!
EMILY. Well, I guess I better go back and try to work.
GEORGE. Good night, Emily. And thanks.
EMILY. Good night, George.
(BOTH return unwillingly to work, but almost immediately
give up and gaze at the moon, chins on hands.)
~ 13 ~
Romeo and Juliet
Before viewing the performance:

What is the dominant theme in the play, love or hate?
Support your answer with examples from the play.

What scene are you most looking forward to seeing
performed live?

Which character do you like the most? Why? What do
you like about them?

Suicide is often described as a permanent solution to a
temporary problem. What does this mean? What are
other options Romeo and Juliet had other than suicide?

Why is Romeo and Juliet one of the most popular works of
literature still today? What themes continue to resonate
with its readers across generations and continents? Is the
story universal or dated?

The plot line in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet fits
together like pieces of a puzzle. In other words, if any
small event of the play did not take place, the ending
would not have been as effective or the tragedy itself
might not have taken place. Do you agree or disagree with this idea?

There is quite a bit of humor in Act 2. Why is that? Why is humor important in a tragedy?
After seeing the play at TPAC:

Think back to specific moments in the performance – which were most memorable for you? What was it in
those moments that most excited, moved or surprised you?

Brainstorm a list of moments that gathered a strong response from the audience in general. Did different
members of the audience respond in different ways? Are there places where the boys responded differently
that the girls? Places where teachers responded differently than students? How do you account for these
differences? Did you think the audience response was appropriate to the situation and the content of the
performance?

Shakespeare’s language can be difficult to understand in modern times. How did the actors make the meaning
of their words clear? Were there changes in tone, volume, pitch or speed that helped important words or ideas
stand out to the audience? Discuss the actors who were most successful in making their words “live” – how did
they use their words to make the meaning clear?

What did Shakespeare hope to accomplish with this play? Is there a message that stands out? Did this
production convey that message?

Did the performance meet your expectations? With your class, discuss all the elements of the performance: set,
costume, and lighting design; music, acting, and directing. What worked for you? What didn’t? What made you
see the story and characters in a new way? What confused you?
~ 14 ~
Cordell Cole as Mercutio, Josh Clark as Romeo. Photo by Michael Bailey.
Discussion Questions – Before and After
Our Town
Before viewing the performance:

What is the traditional role of a stage manager? Why do you think Wilder uses the character of a stage
manager as his narrator? How do the stage manager’s actions reflect the role of a stage manager during the
production of a play? How do they differ from the traditional understanding of what a stage manager does?

Analyze the unconventional character of the Stage Manager. Some critics have suggested that he plays a role
similar to that of a Greek chorus; others have suggested that he may be meant to personify Death. Some critics
have even suggested that his presence hints at the presence of God. How do you believe his character should
be interpreted? How does his presence in the play impact the development of plot and theme?

What do you think the Stage Manager is suggesting when he tells the audience, “The First Act was called Daily
Life.This act is called Love and Marriage. There’s another act coming after this: I reckon you can guess what
that’s about”? How does this foreshadowing impact the audience’s reaction to the second act?

How is your town or neighborhood similar to Grover's Corners? Describe the similarities and differences
between the two places. How significant is the setting in Our Town? Could this play have taken place anywhere
or at any time? Could it be set in a big city? Another country? What would the play gain or lose in those
settings?

In Act III of Our Town, Emily decides to revisit one day in her life. She chooses a day that is somewhat happy
and somewhat ordinary: the day of her twelfth birthday. If you could relive a time in your past, what time would
you choose and why? Knowing what you know now, would you want to relive a special occasion, or just an
ordinary day?

Thornton Wilder once wrote: "I've always thought [Emily should live]. In a movie you see the people so close to
that a different relation is established. In the theatre they are halfway abstractions in an allegory; in the movie
they are very concrete. So in so far as the play is a Generalized Allegory she dies - we die - they die; in so far
as it's a Concrete Happening it's not important that she die. Let her live - the idea will have been imparted
anyway." How do you interpret this quote? What implications does it have for your reading of the play? If you
were directing a film of Our Town, would you let Emily live?
After seeing the play at TPAC:

Wilder was very specific about the set design and staging of his play. How much control should an author have
over the way that his or her text is interpreted and/or adapted? Do you believe directors and/or actors have a
responsibility to honor an author’s wishes, or do they have the right to interpret texts in their own way?

The play contains few dramatic events, and offers only these stage directions: "No curtain. No scenery." Does
the lack of props and scenery add to or detract from the play? Why do you think Wilder chose to present the
play this way? Did your opinion on this change after seeing it performed live?

In a foreword to the play, Donald Margulies suggests that the reader may have been forced to read Our Town
“when you were too young to appreciate it.” Do you think you are old enough to appreciate the intent of the
story? Think back on a time that you experienced something that you were initially “too young to appreciate.”
How did your experience change? What life experiences gave you the context to understand or appreciate the
experience?

Examine the three questions asked by the "audience" members, about drinking, social injustice, and culture.
What's the purpose of these interruptions? Do they add or detract from the play? If you were updating the play,
would these questions change? If so, how?

How does watching a production of the play affect your perception of the characters on the page? Do they
seem more or less "archetypal" on stage than on paper?
~ 15 ~
Special Thanks
The Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s nonprofit mission is to lead with excellence in the performing arts
and arts education, creating meaningful and relevant experiences to enrich lives, strengthen communities,
and support economic vitality. TPAC Education is funded solely by generous contributions,
sponsorships, and in-kind gifts from our partners.
Season Sponsor
511 Group
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Julie and Dale Allen
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Baulch Family Foundation
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Mr. and Mrs. Jack O. Bovender Jr.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC
Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund
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Eva-Lena and John Cody
The Community Foundation
of Middle Tennessee
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Creative Artists Agency
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for the Performing Arts*
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HCA — Caring for the Community
The HCA Foundation
HCA Inc.
John Reginald Hill
Ingram Industries
Martha R. Ingram
Irvin and Beverly Small Foundation
Joel C. Gordon and Bernice W. Gordon
Family Foundation
JohnsonPoss
Landis B. Gullett Charitable Lead
Annuity Trust
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Mary C. Ragland Foundation
MEDHOST
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Metro Nashville Arts Commission
Middle Tennessee Performing Arts
H.O.T. Support Fund
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Monell’s
ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOR
Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation
Nashville Predators Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
The NewsChannel 5 Network
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NovaCopy
Kathleen and Tim O’Brien
Patricia C. and Thomas F. Frist
Designated Fund*
Piedmont Natural Gas
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Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc.
Raymond James
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Regions
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Sargent’s Fine Catering
Service Management Systems
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SunTrust Foundation
The Tennessean
Tennessee Arts Commission
Travelink, American Express Travel
Judy and Steve Turner
Vanderbilt University
Waller
Washington Foundation
Woodmont Investment Counsel, LLC
XMI Commercial Real Estate
Yaara and Uzi Yemin
*A fund of the Community Foundation
of Middle Tennessee
ROMEO AND JULIET AND OUR TOWN
The American Shakespeare Center recovers the joys and
accessibility of Shakespeare’s theatre, language, and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and
its practices through performance and education.
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TPAC Education
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Nashville, Tennessee 37219